In the general batting mayhem of the 3rd ODI between England and Pakistan at Nottingham, it did not go unnoticed that Mohammad Amir on the losing side scored 58 at No 11 which was the first 50 by a No 11 in an ODI. The previous record was 43 by Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup.

As we can see from the scorecard , Amir was joint top scorer in the innings with Sharjeel.

We take this occasion to look more closely at scores by No 10 and 11 batsmen in all 3 formats.

Tests:

45 and above at No 11:

Note that the top 4 scores have come after 2000.

There is even a listing of No 11s who have top scored in the innings:

The highest score of 98 here was made by AC Agar on his debut. The lowest (14) also came in recent years, when Australia moved from 21/9 to 47.

At No 10, there have been 4 centuries and a ninety:

And there are numerous centuries at No 9. The highest is 173 by IDS Smith for NZ v Ind in 1989-90, followed by 169 by SC Broad in this famous Test. The highest for India is 90 by FM Engineer vs NZ in 1964-65.

We now move to ODIs:

Highest by No 11 (30 and above):

Highest score by No 10 (50 and above):

Note that Amir also held this record for over two years before Rampaul took it.

At No 9, the highest is 92* by AD Russell for WI vs Ind in 2011. For India, it is 69 by Jai P. Yadav in the same match as IK Pathan (above).

As we will see, tailender scores are considerably lower in T20Is.

Top scores by No 11 (in double figures):

Only 4 No 11s have crossed double figures. The highest for India is 5* by Ishant Sharma v SL in 2009-10

Top scores by No 10 (20 and above):

The highest for India is 19* by S Sreesanth v NZ in the 2007 World Championship.

At No 9, the highest is 46 by Anwar Ali for Pak v SL in 2015. For India, it is 33* by IK Pathan v SL in 2008-09.

Now we take up ODIs in the same way. Though others interested in cricket statistics may disagree, I have removed ODIs involving multi-national teams such as the ICC World XI, Africa XI and Asia XI.

First, the highest scores at various batting positions in all ODIs:

Interesting that Kapil’s 175* in 1983 is the oldest record standing, followed by Viv Richard’s 189* in 1984. That was the only ODI played at Tunbridge Wells, and there is no video of this match available because of a dispute with the BBC at that time.

Now for Indian players:

Interesting that the records for numbers 9 and 10 came in the same match.

Now we look at all debutants in ODIs:

Interesting that Haynes’s record of 1978 still stands.

No debutant from India in the above table. Their details are here:

Oddly enough Brijesh Patel’s 82 from India’s very first ODI in 1974 is still a record.

Some may be thinking of Yuvraj Singh’s 84 at No 5 in 2000. But that was in his second ODI, while he did not bat in the first. (Shahid Afridi’s 37-ball century had a similar story).

One of the first cricket books I acquired about 40 years ago was “Figures of Cricket” by Sudhir Vaidya which had records up to 1976. It was perhaps the only inexpensive book on cricket statistics available in India at that time. He brought out one more edition in 1990, and does not seem to have written any books after that.

One of the interesting topics in this was the “Eclectic score card” which listed the top scores for each batting position in Tests. (ODIs were not significant enough then to attract the attention of statisticians). As a tribute to Mr. Vaidya and his book, here are some eclectic score cards under different conditions. Points of interest are mentioned in the Remarks column.

First, the highest scores at all 11 positions for all Tests as of April 2016:

The record set by Ben Stokes earlier this year may not have attracted the attention it deserved. The previous record for No 6 was 250 by KD Walters, Aus v NZ in 1976-77.

While WW Read’s record has stood from 1884, there is one better-known record set in the very first Test in 1876-77 which still stands-Charles Bannerman scoring 67.34 per cent of his team’s innings. See Link

Next, the highest scores at all positions scored by Indian players:

Now we come to the highest scores made by debutants from all countries:

And finally, the highest scores made by debutants from India:

Plenty of food for thought here if you go through it closely. Will take up ODIs later, although data for T20Is may be too scanty at the moment.